5a) I've heard that living conditions on many reserves are deplorable. Why can't
native people take care of what they have?

"If you look at the data you will know the situation we are in. So we have
talked about having our own systems. We have not felt justice in the courts
within your systems. Our potlatch systems was our highest court of law. . ."

- Levina Lightboun, Haida

Of the 126,625 aboriginals living in B.C. (4.4% of the population of B.C.) 54.2% live on
reserves. (B.C. has 1650 of Canada's 2300 reserves.) Of those living on reserve, 39% are
under the age of 15.

Data outlining native life in B.C. reveals a terrifying reality:

Employment

According to 1989 figures, only three out of ten on-reserve registered Indians, aged
15 years or older, are employed (versus five out of ten for the rest of B.C.) Of
these, 26% are employed in the Primary sector (logging, fishing, trapping) and earn
an annual income of $9800 versus $18,700 for the rest of British Columbians.
Almost half the total income for on-reserve registered Indians, aged 15 years or
more, are government transfer payments.

Education

Figures published in 1989 reveal that those living on reserve have less formal
education than the average B.C. citizen.

35.6% of on-reserve, age 15+, B.C. registered Indians have less than Grade
9 education versus 11.1% for the rest of B.C.

26.7% of on-reserve, age 15+, B.C. registered Indians have high school
education versus 59.3% for the rest of B.C.

Only 20% of native children complete Grade 12 compared to the provincial average
of 75%. Though the formal education of native people significantly lags behind the
rest of the province there have been dramatic and positive increases in the number of
natives attending university and in the number of bands who have assumed control of
schools on reserves.

Year Number of Indians Attending University
1960 60
1985/86 5800
1986/87 13,196
Year Number of Band-Operated Schools
1975/76 53
1986/87 243

Living Conditions

Many reserves have considerable material resources but lack capital, often
combined with the results of past government policies encouraging dependence and
inhibiting economic development. Lack of opportunities to earn a living, combined
with other social and psychological forces, result in poor living conditions.

A 1985 study by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) concludes that 47%
of on-reserve housing fails to meet basic standards of physical adequacy and 36% of
housing situations are seriously overcrowded. Nearly 19% of native houses have
two or more families in them. Half the homes on reserve need major repairs. (Note
that INAC itself decides housing allocations for bands. Only the small percentage of
Indians on reserves with high incomes can afford better housing.)

The proportion of native children taken into the care of welfare authorities is five
times the national average. Juvenile delinquents number three times the national
average.

Causes of Death

Accidental deaths are four to five times more common, suicides twice as common,
and homicides ten times more common for native people than for non-natives.

Alcoholism is legendary, capturing entire communities in some instances.

Native babies die at twice the national average. Native men and women can expect
to die ten years sooner than other Canadians.

5b) Why are employment, education, living conditions, and causes of death so
unlike the rest of Canada?

The profile given by such data is not unlike other groups around the world - especially in
the Third World - who have undergone a process of colonization and/or who suffer severe
economic hardship.

In examining the social conditions on many reserves in B.C., the Premier's Council on
Native Affairs "Progress Report and Interim Recommendations" (July 1990) concluded, in
part:

Many of the problems faced by aboriginal people appear to be part of the
legacy of misguided efforts. For example, for the better part of a century
and as recently as the late 1960's many hundred of aboriginal families were
disrupted by the placement of children in federally- funded residential
schools hundreds of miles away from their homes. Although some of these
schools were well run, many were not and thousands of children suffered
physical, emotional, and even sexual abuse. Similarly, federal Indian
policies and the Indian Act contributed to the breakdown of traditional
social structures in aboriginal communities by removing most of the
authority of band councils to make decisions about their communities. The
Act also created divisiveness and disrespect for the traditional hereditary
judicial system.

. . .There is sufficient evidence that programs developed and controlled
from outside the aboriginal community have not been very successful. We
recommend that the provincial and federal governments support the
concept of social programs being controlled by aboriginal communities.